


Cedric Diggory and the Goblet of Fire

by appalyneinstitute1



Series: The Boys Who L’ved Universe [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cedric Diggory Lives, Fluff, Howlers (Harry Potter), I dont like character tags so im not using them, I guess at the start there is some, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Triwizard Tournament, gof au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:20:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 14,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23451607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/appalyneinstitute1/pseuds/appalyneinstitute1
Summary: What if Cedric and Harry dated during GoF? Would Cedric have survived? Will an act of true love change the course of the war?
Relationships: Cedric Diggory/Harry Potter
Series: The Boys Who L’ved Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1756294
Comments: 51
Kudos: 255





	1. The Yule Ball

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my first fic but the first published! No idea how often I'll update. I am a native English speaker but have bad grammar please correct me if I really screw up. I also will be using American speech patterns so not quite culturally accurate....
> 
> DISCLAIMER: If you recognize something I do not own it and am making no money off of it!
> 
> Remember to leave comments. I wanna hear what you think!

As the Weird Sisters played a peppy song in the background Cedric danced with Cho. Occasionally his eyes drifted over to Harry Potter, who was sitting at a table in the corner with Ron. He was pretty sure it was Ron anyways it was hard to tell at this distance. Both of the boys in the corner had abandoned their dates quite quickly.

  
"Ow! Stop starring at Harry and keep your eyes on your feet Ced!"

  
Cedric realized he had just stepped on Cho's foot.

  
"You can't be anymore obvious, you're lucky he's oblivious."

  
"Sorry, it's just he abandoned his date." Cedric told his best friend.

  
"Doesn't mean you can step on yours."

  
Cedric frowned.

  
Cho rolled her eyes "Relax! I'm just kidding, but if you step on my foot again I'll hex you."

  
"Fair enough."

  
The song and consequently the Ball ended soon after. Cedric and Cho made their way out of the wintry hall. Cedric's mind had drifted back to the egg. He was pretty sure that those were mermaid calls but he had yet to test his theory. Had Harry figured out the egg yet? A fourth year probably wouldn't know what the wailing meant. They didn't cover mermaids in any class until fifth year. Just then he saw Harry and Ron walking out of the Hall and up the stairs. He suddenly had an idea.

  
"I've gotta speak to someone" he told Cho, "You don't really need me to walk you back to Ravenclaw do you?"

  
"I can walk on my own Ced, now go talk to Harry."

  
Harry Potter had been one of Cedric's first crushes before Hogwarts. That had died down before Harry even came to the school but recently the old feelings had come back but they were more real. He was not some eleven year old crushing on some hero he had never seen, no, he was starting to see the real Harry because of this tournament. Harry was humble and kind. Heck he had offered him information for the first task because he thought it was fair. Cedric wanted to return the favor, it was only right. These thoughts gave Cedric the confidence to walk up to the boy who lived.

  
Said boy was watching an argument play out between his two best friends and did not notice Cedric until he was right in front of him.  
"Have you figured out the egg yet?" Asked Cedric.

  
"No you?"

  
"I have an idea and I owe you for the dragons, so would you want to work on it together?" Cedric held his breath.

  
"I'm not sure, are you sure that's allowed? Can I have a week to think about it?"

  
"Sure but I will need to get to work after that, so only a week."

  
"Okay I'll tell you then."

  
Cedric walked away gleefully, he hadn't heard a no.


	2. The Prefects Bathroom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is longer than the first and I kind of like this length better. Feel free to tell me what you think!  
> Updates may or may not come frequently due to Corona Crazy. Hope y'all are staying safe and healthy!

When Cedric had approached Harry he had been focused on the fight between Hermione and Ron, so much so that he did not process what Cedric had said. _Stupid stupid stupid,_ he thought to himself. That was his chance. While he knew he had no shot with Cedric, he saw this as an in. He had realized sometime over the summer that he liked guys and girls. Hermione and Ron had been quite accepting, Ron was shocked but Hermione seemed to have known. _Of course she did she's Hermione,_ he had thought at the time. Harry's crush on Cedric had merely been a matter of time, especially with Cedric as the Hogwarts Champion. 

He really did want to try and crack the egg on his own, he just could not find the place to do it. There was nowhere to try without irritating someone or something. He thought about owling Sirius or perhaps Lupin about the noise but he could not figure out how to get the noise through the mail without mailing the egg as well. It didn't help that Hermione couldn't find anything either. He wanted to say yes.

The great hall was quite full the next morning as many of the upper year students had stayed over the holidays. Harry saw Cedric talking with Cho and felt jealous. He decided against talking to Cedric that morning. He did work on the egg while everyone was out in the snow. He got nowhere. Luckily the fight between Ron and Hermione was superficial enough that it had pretty much blown over by dinner. 

It was at dinner that Harry finally approached Cedric. He was eating with his friends, Harry wasn’t sure of their names. One was a tan dark haired guy and the other a blonde Smiling girl with lots of energy.

Harry stood by the table awkwardly for what felt like forever then he finally said “Yes.”

Cedric stared for a moment then he seemed to understand, "Okay, bring some swim trunks and meet me on the fifth floor tonight. Try not to get caught."

"I could come get you from Hufflepuff, I have an invisibility cloak and a map to help escape Filch."

"Oh, yeah that's probably better." Cedric blushed "I'm used to being out late for my prefect rounds, I was just going to say i switched shifts with someone if I got caught."

"I'll see you at 8:30?" 

"Yeah, sounds good."

Harry walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Ron.

"What was that about?" Hermione asked.

"He and I are gonna work on the egg clue tonight."

"Together?"

"Why not? No matter who wins its a win for Hogwarts, right?"

"Of course. It's also good to diversify your friend group too. Ginny has this Ravenclaw friend that she wants me to meet and I just haven't found the time but I think I will take after Harry's example and meet her."

"Do I need to start making a new friend to so I'm not left out?" Ron joked.

The group laughed and ate their meal.

At 8:30 on the nose Harry waited outside the Hufflepuff common rooms near the kitchens underneath his invisibility cloak, the Marauder's map and golden egg in tow. A few minutes later Cedric exited from behind a pile of barrels.  
"Harry?"  
Harry frantically struggled to get his cloak off. "Over here!" he whisper-shouted.  
"Where did you get the cloak?"  
"It was my Dad's Professor Dumbledore gave it to me. The map was also his, but I got that from Fred and George Weasley oddly enough."  
While Harry was rambling Cedric looked at the map, it was super detailed and he could see from where Cho was sleeping in the Ravenclaw dorms Up in the towers to where he and Harry were standing in the basement.  
"Shall we?" questioned Cedric. Harry promptly threw the cloak over bot of their heads and the began to shuffle towards the fifth floor. 

Harry and Cedric stood outside a door and Cedric muttered the words "Pine fresh" and the door swung open to a bathroom with a tub the size of a small pool. There were many different taps and soap types with a set of showers off to the right.  
"Well Mr. Potter may I welcome you to the prefects bathroom!" Cedric said flinging off the invisibility cloak with grandeur.  
"Oh, this is why you wanted me to bring a bathing suit." Harry said suddenly understanding the strange request and being thankful that he had purchased one the summer before to swim in the lake near Ron's house.  
"Yup and now that we are alone and not giving any other school the advantage, would you like to know why we are here?"  
"That would probably be nice."  
"I think that the cries from the egg are Mermish, they can't be understood above water."  
"Makes sense why we are in the pool room then." Harry smiled.  
"It is kind of a lot isn't it?"  
"How deep is it?"  
"Not very why?"  
"I'm not the strongest swimmer, I mean I learned how to, they required it in my muggle school, I just haven't been swimming in anything past my waist." The lake near Ron's house was barely up to his chest and he trusted Ron more than Cedric. He wasn't exactly Ron's competitor now was he?  
"Don't worry the prefects all have to learn how to save a drowning person, so I can save you if you are in mortal peril but you should be fine."  
"Thanks, Ced, mortal peril seems to be something that does happen to me a lot."


	3. The Siren Song

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used the mermaid song-thing from GoF it belongs to JKR not me! (Though I did change a few words for my style and left off the last two lines, they seemed pointless with where I'm leading the story.)  
> Feel free to comment I turned on moderation just to make sure I read them all!

Cedric folded his robes in the corner and Harry left his in a pile. Cedric did a very neat, but shallow dive into the deepest part of the pool. Harry just lowered himself in half shocked that the water was warm, it seemed so much like a swimming pool that he had forgotten it was a bath. Both boys quickly grabbed their eggs from the side. Harry went to open his but Cedric stopped him.

"You and the egg have to be underwater, otherwise it will get very loud in here very fast."

"Okay then we should do one egg at a time, make sure they are the same. On three, one, two, three!"

Cedric opened his egg first and the two heard a song sung by mysterious voices,

_"Come seek us where our voices sound,_

_For we cannot sing above the ground,_

_And while you're searching ponder this:_

_We have taken who you'll sorely miss_

_An hour long you'll have to look,_

_And to recover what we took."_

The boys surfaced and pondered the message for a minute. "Creepy" was all Cedric could say.

Harry responded "Not the creepiest thing I've heard, last year after my divination exam Trelawney predicted that Voldemort would come back to life."

Cedric flinched.

"Sorry, I forget that people aren't used to hearing the name. My friends are used to it by now."

"Did she really say you-know-who is coming back?"

"Not specifically but it was implied. Prophecy is never exact really. Anyway now let's do mine."

The boys dove down again and Harry opened his egg to the same message. They did this a few more times to commit the passage to memory. After they surfaced for the last time they swam to some shallow steps near the edge and sat down. 

"Are there mermaids in the lake?" Harry asked.

"I think so, I guess we are going underwater to save someone. We only have an hour."

"That's gonna be hard, how do you think they will choose the hostages?"

"Probably someone we care about, for me it would probably be Cho because..." He had almost said that the person he likes is competing.

"She's your girlfriend." Harry said almost hurt.

"No she's not, she's my best friend who happens to be a girl. She's not my type anyhow." Cedric jumped in quickly.

"Oh, then what is your type if not pretty and athletic seekers?"

"If I did have a type being a seeker would be it, but what I meant was that I like boys." Cedric blushed, he had practically just told Harry he either liked him or the Slytherin seeker.  
"Oh." Harry said now with a bit of understanding, "Any seekers in this school?"

"Um, yeah, actually." By now Cedric was pretty sure he would never stop looking like a tomato. 

Harry smiled, he may be oblivious but it was quite obvious where Cedric was headed. "Go on..."

"You." That was it he was going to just be as red as a Gryffindor flag for the rest of eternity.

Harry's eyes widened "Me too."

"Huh?"

"I like you too." Harry was now about as red as Cedric, he had been so focused on trying to keep his blush down he hadn't even noticed. Cedric moved a little closer, their equally red faces mere inches apart when, 

"Harry and Cedric sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G"

The water around the two suddenly was chilled as Moaning Myrtle came out of one of the faucets.

"Were you watching that whole time?" Harry asked, incensed.

"Yes I was, it has been too long since you came to visit me! When I heard the two of you come in here I was angry and wanted to yell at you. I still do but this is much more... interesting."

"Myrtle you can't just spy on people! I am sorry that I have not visited you, but this was kind of a private moment. We should get going, Ced."

The two boys climbed out and left Myrtle in the bathroom giggling with glee. The two boys walked toward the kitchens in silence. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter isn't as long because I did not want to go into the egg and trap stair scene, I'm not quite sure what I'm doing with that next.


	4. Crouch and Skeeter

As Harry and Cedric made their way through the halls, Harry had his eyes on the map to make sure no more ghosts, or cantankerous caretakers and their cats for that matter, caught them. As they neared the basement Harry looked over the dungeons to make sure none of the Slytherins were there, those snakes would certainly rat them out to Snape. He had just glanced at Snape's office when he saw that someone was moving, rather quickly, around Snape's office, and it was not Snape. The dot on the map was labeled Bartemius Crouch.

"Ced!" He whispered.

"Look Harry if this is about earlier..." 

"No, Mr.Crouch is in Snape's office!"

"What? Let me see." 

Cedric looked at the map and sure enough one dot named Bartemius Crouch was bouncing around the room. 

"Let's check it out!" Harry said.

"No we'll just get caught. If it's for the tournament we could be disqualified for cheating, and I for one don't want that. You have to remember that I did in fact put my own name in." 

“I know that. Do you think I put my name in?”  
“No. I mean I thought so at first, but then I noticed how terrified you were. Yes, I was nervous, but you looked on the verge of a meltdown. Not that I blame you for that.”

The two continued on their walk.

"What could he be doing?" Questioned Harry, trying to keep the conversation going.

"It might be a potion for the second task, many take months and need to be brewed at night."

"I guess you're right. In second year... Wait promise me you won't use your prefect powers to give me retroactive detention for telling you this."

"You can trust me, besides I find your eagerness to solve things despite rules, kinda, cute." His face had slowly reached tomato phase once again. 

"Thanks," Harry said feeling a little warm under the cloak with Cedric. "Well anyway, Hermione, Ron, and I brewed a batch of polyjuice in Myrtle's bathroom second year. We started soon after the first basilisk attack, right around when everyone started blaming me, and the potion wasn't ready until Christmas."

"Wow that's one hard potion, even I struggled with that one this year."

"It was mostly Hermione, Ron and I are crap at potions."

By now they had reached the Hufflepuff dorms. Cedric lifted the invisibility cloak off their shoulders. 

"After classes start and the Library opens back up, would you want to, I don't know, work on ideas for the task together?" Cedric asked as it was Harry's turn to become as red as his house color.

"Like a study date, emphasis on date?" 

"Yeah, I mean maybe we could invite some friends sometime, Cho and Hermione would be really helpful with research, but for the first time yea like a date with some studying."

"I would like that very much."

For a moment before Cedric knocked on the barrels to let himself inside the common room it seemed like something was going to happen. But then both boys turned and went their separate ways.

Once school had gone back into session Harry and Cedric had planned their date for Monday night. But right now it was Monday morning and Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the other Gryffindors were outside with the Slytherins, waiting for Care of Magical Creatures to start . Harry glanced around for Hagrid, but the large man was nowhere to be seen."

"Where's Hagrid?" Asked Ron. 

"You haven't heard?" Called out a sneering voice. "The oaf is probably shut up from embarrassment, he probably won't show his face ever again." Malfoy told them.

"What're you on about?" Growled Harry.

"Ever read the news Potter?"

Harry had been so distracted because of his date later that he had neglected to read the Prophet that morning. Malfoy chucked a section of the paper at the trio.

Hermione read aloud "Dumbledore's Giant Mistake?" 

The trio proceeded reading in silence. Part way through Harry and Ron both realized that somehow Rita Skeeter had overheard Hagrid talking with Madame Maxime at the Yule Ball. Before anyone could say anything an elderly witch came over. 

"Attention fourth years! I am Professor Grubbly-Plank, your substitute teachr for the time being now ladies would you please follow me and gentlemen, please take up the rear. We are studying unicorns today."

Most of the class breathed a sigh of relief for not having to deal with blast-ended skrewts that day. Harry's mind had gone haywire, if Hagrid had locked himself away in his hut then Harry should visit him. Make sure he's alright, but he also had his date with Cedric tonight. After Ron's quick explanation of why giants had the stigma they did Harry decided that he would see Hagrid later that week with Ron and Hermione. He still hadn't told them about his date, he wanted to make sure Cedric liked him for him, not just the boy-who-lived. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI all! I decided I like this chapter length best! I hope you all are staying healthy and catching up on some reading. We have the big first date and maybe some 'meet the friends' next chapter.  
> On an entirely related note leave a comment with some good names for a friend of Cedric's and maybe a house suggestion. I like the idea of him not having only Hufflepuff friends.  
> Remember I only moderate comments to make sure I read them all and to weed out any hateful ones!


	5. The Study Date

After dinner Cedric headed to the library. His heart banged in his chest trying to break free. He was determined to make it through the night without becoming a tomato though that might just be impossible. He signed out a tutor room under the guise of tutoring Harry in potions. If Harry had told anyone that they were going on a date it would be all over the school by now, the walls of Hogwarts definitely have ears. Cedric quickly went into the stacks and found some books he thought might have some water related charms, then he went into the study room and waited. 

Harry arrived a few moments later.

"Hi." Cedric said fighting his blush as hard as he could. 

"Hi." Harry repeated looking as if he was fighting a blush as well. 

"So, um, do you want to get to work or talk or...." Cedric trailed off. 

"Let's get to work, I guess."

They opened the books and started reading. Cedric quickly got distracted by a question he had been pondering since their little excursion in the bathroom. 

"You mentioned that you brewed polyjuice in your second year, why?" 

"Well, most of your house, nothing against you all by the way, were accusing me of being the heir of Slytherin. I had to prove them wrong. Ron, Hermione, and I used it to get into the Slytherin common room and check out some of our hunches, well Ron and I did, Hermione accidentally used cat hair and had to go to the infirmary."

"Did you find out who the heir was?"

"Yes, but not from the polyjuice adventure. Later in the year Ron and I found out that his sister was being possessed by Voldemort's" Cedric flinched but did not say anything, "fifth year diary. He is really the heir of Slytherin." 

"Wait, is? I though he was dead."

"Body, yes. Spirit, no. I fought him when he possessed Quirrell." 

"Oh wow."

"Yea, now that you have asked your questions can I ask you one?"

"I guess so, shoot." 

"Why do you like me?"

"What do you mean?"

"This is not some hard question, and I don't mean it in that I am unlikable, but why do _you_ like me?"

"Well, you're handsome, so that's something." That goal about not blushing was out the window now. "You play quidditch well, I could tell it wasn't favoritism that got you on that team, no matter what others think. I like that you do what's right, no matter the rules. I do have to say, which will probably turn out bad for me, that I like your heroism. Not to say that I'm some obsessive fan, I mean I am pretty sure four-year-old me was right after you defeated you-know-who, but some of the rumors that went through the school after you did something big and heroic always made you seem, kinda, hot." Yeah, he was _totally_ not blushing now.

"Thank you for answering honestly. I just, I mean, you are the first person I've ever been on a date with, if you count this. I just want to know that you aren't mooching off my fame or something." Harry was sporting a facial color similar to Cedric at this point. 

Suddenly both realized at the same time that the space between them had grown smaller. Harry looked up at Cedric who was a few inches taller. Cedric took that queue to lean in. It was a small chaste kiss that lasted no more than five seconds, but to both of them it seemed to last an eternity. 

As the weeks went by they told their friends that they were now dating. Harry finally went to see Hagrid and he, Ron, and Hermione convinced him to return to class. When Cedric and Harry really wanted to get to work on the second task they brought along friends. Hermione and Cho had similar study habits and probably made the most progress. Ron along with Cedric's friends Eve Mills and Mark Foresberg, Harry at last knew their names, liked to lighten the mood, though they did help as well. One day Cho had found a book that contained the bubblehead charm both Cedric and Harry tried it. Cedric was a natural, Harry on the other hand could not do it. 

Hermione instantly was looking up alternate methods for Harry but the real answer came from Neville.

Harry had been stressed about it one night and was complaining to his dorm mates. Neville instantly had a book out and showed Harry the page on gilyweed. Harry figured Snape would have some but would certainly not let him have it. Late one night he snuck down to the common room and asked Dobby to get him some on the day of the task. 

The night before the task Harry received a note to head to Dumbledore's office. Hermione did as well. When they got there there was also a little blonde girl who looked like a carbon copy of Fleur Delacour. 

"As the three of you know, Harry more than you girls, the second task is tomorrow." Dumbledore told them, "I have pulled you two from your evenings and young Miss Delacour from her home in order to prepare you for the second task, for you shall be the 'hostages'" Dumbledore made air quotes so as not to worry the three children "for the champions to retrieve. Before you say anything Harry, you will also compete as the champion's time release is staggered. You have been chosen because you are the person each champion thinks about most, that we are allowed to have here."

Harry presumed he said that last part for his sake. He was pretty sure that his thinking was somewhere between worry for Sirius and generally about Cedric most of the time. 

"You can probably guess which champions you were selected for. Now let me explain what will happen next. You will take a potion that will allow you to survive without breathing for twenty four hours. The next one will leave you in an unconscious stasis when underwater. You will report to the black lake at five AM tomorrow wearing whatever you need for the task. Hermione, Harry you may bring you wands but they must remain in your pocket until you reach the shore. Any questions?"

No one answered but Harry was now more nervous than he was for the first task.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Ced and Harry are dating! This chapter is kinda long but I needed to set up the second task before the next chapter in which we will dive down into the black lake with Cedric and Harry.


	6. Into the Lake

Harry had been up late thinking about the task the next day. Was he really the person Cedric thought about most? Did he think about Cedric more than anyone else? He figured that must be the case otherwise he would have had a hostage there from the start right? Or maybe his hostage was someone else and Dumbledore didn't want Harry knowing because others, meaning Karkaroff and maybe Maxime, would think that was cheating. If not Cedric then, who? Sirius would make sense but Dumbledore seemed to imply that it wasn't. Although he could have meant that padfoot would be there. That didn't make sense either, all the other hostages are human, well Fleur's sister was part veela and Harry had always thought Hermione was part robot, but still not dogs. 

At three in the morning Harry finally fell asleep only to be awoken by Dobby. 

"Master Harry Potter needs to be getting up sir! Harry Potter is needing to be at the lake in a few minutes sir!"

"Dobby." Harry muttered and yawned. 

"Dobby has master Harry Potter's gillyweed, sir."

Harry was now up and getting dressed quietly. Though why he was being quiet when Dobby was going to wake up his roommates he did not know. He put on his tournament sanctioned swimwear and his robes. 

"Thank you Dobby, but I can't have it now. Give it to me after I come out of the lake the first time."

"Okay after the first time master Harry Potter sir."

Dobby disappeared with a crack that Harry was still surprised did not wake the others. He headed downstairs only to find Hermione pacing in the common room. 

"Where have you been? I have been waiting for you! We are due at the lake in less than ten minutes!"

"Good morning to you too Hermione." Harry yawned, he was not going to do well today without sleep. 

The two headed down to the lake. Dumbledore, Karkarroff, and Maxime were waiting by the lake, the latter having her hands on the shoulder's of Fleur's sister whose name he had learned from Hermione was Gabrielle. As he and Hermione walked up, so did Ludo Bagman and a quite irritated Percy Weasley.

"Percy?" Harry asked.

"Good morning Harry. If you had not noticed already I am filling in for Mister Crouch as a judge today."

Harry gave him an unconvincing smile, it was too early for this. 

"Well now that we're all here," Bagman changed the subject, "Let us get our first three hostages ready for the task!"

Karkaroff passed out two different vials to each hostage. "Drink the red one first" he instructed.

"Now, as a test to make sure the potion is working and none of you drown, I would like you each to hold your breaths for five minutes, you'll find it is not that hard." Dumbledore told Harry, Hermione, and Gabrielle.

They did so without fail. At first Harry was concerned because he thought the potion was to stop the ability to breathe, but he was still able to do so. After he would normally have taken a breath again he realized, just because he was able to breathe he did not need to. 

"Now the blue one." Instructed Karkaroff. 

Harry chugged the blue one but did not feel any different. 

"Follow along now." Percy called leading the way to one of the docks that had been added on the shore of the lake. There was one for each champion color coded by school, yellow for Cedric, blue for Fleur, a burgundy-brown for Viktor, and red for Harry. The one they were led to though was in the middle. It was just stained wood that held the judges platform. 

"Now you three will jump into the lake. You should go unconscious within two minutes. If it takes longer than that the mermaids are instructed to bring you back to the surface so that we may address the reason the second potion did not work." Percy declared triumphantly. Ron's brother liked rules a little too much for anyone's taste, Harry could even tell Hermione thought he was overkill. 

It took a few minutes for Maxime to explain this in French to Gabrielle, but once she did the little girl looked scared. Hermione stepped over and asked Gabrielle a question in French. The blonde nodded and took the older girl's hand. The two walked over to Harry. 

"You know French?" Harry blurted. 

"Yes, I do they made it required in the advanced program I was in before Hogwarts. Anyway, she wants to jump together." Gabrielle held out a hand to Harry and he took it. 

The three walked to the ledge and jumped together. It took a bit for the world to fade to black, but just as it did Harry felt wet hands grab him and start to guide him down. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow that was longer than I expected! I wanted to include the whole of the second task into one chapter but that is so not happening. I know exactly what is gonna happen from here because it was supposed to be in this chapter so the next update should be quick.  
> Did you like Percy? His speech may seem off because I feel like Percy would not use contractions because they aren't 'grammatically correct.'  
> Leave comments and kudos I want to hear what y'all think!


	7. The Second Task Part 1

Cedric woke up and felt jittery. He wasn't sure if he was excited or nervous or some combination of both. He headed up into the great hall early so that he could change before the task. The only people there were the usual early risers, Fleur with her usual flock of admirers, Viktor with his, and a few teachers. Cedric looked towars the Gryffindor table, the only ones were a few fifth years. Where was Harry? They had agreed to walk to the lake together last week. He downed his breakfast in silence and by the time he was done nearly all of Hufflepuff was there to cheer him on. He finished and left to get ready, surely he would see Harry before the task. 

He walked down to the lake, still no sign of Harry. He paced up and down the yellow dock he was assigned until everyone had arrived and settled into the lake side seating. He was just about to tell one of the judges that Harry wasn't there yet when Bagman called the three present champions to the judges platform. 

"Okay so here is how today is going to work," Bagman said "you each have a hostage down in the mermaid village. You will have one hour to retrieve your hostage. If not your hostage will be escorted to the surface by the mermaids. For... um.. technical reasons you will start half an hour apart from each other. Mr. Diggory is first, then Mr. Krum, and then Miss Delacour."

"Um, Mr. Bagman?" Cedric asked "Harry isn't here yet."

"I know that Mr. Diggory and I also know that he will be here in time for his turn."

Cedric looked at him suspiciously before Bagman dismissed the champions.

Cedric went back to his platform, confused. He took a deep breath and cleared his mind. Minutes later, a buzzer sounded he quickly did his bubble head charm and a heating charm and dove into the cold water. 

He descended into the murky green depths of the lake. Not long after he encountered a grindylow. He used an underwater stunning spell that he had just learned in class the day before. The grindylow floated away as Cedric swam on. It occurred to him that he had no idea which hostage he was going to have to rescue. He let that occupy his thoughts until an underwater village of shells and seaweed appeared in front of him. 

In the 'square' of the village there were three tall pillars. Each had a person strapped to it. The closest one, the one in the middle, had a little blonde girl strapped to it. She was probably not his hostage, she looked like Fleur. The next pillar he looked at was on his left, Hermione was strapped to that one. He finally looked to his right. He swam up to get a better look, for this hostage was looking down. He slowly guided the boy's chin up so that he could see his face. He came face to face with a face he had kissed countless times the past two months. Harry wasn't at breakfast because he was under the lake! He was the one Cedric was supposed to save. 

Cedric used an underwater cutting charm he had learned in the same class as the stunner. Once his boyfriend was free, Cedric used all his might to swim to the surface. Just below the surface he encountered yet another grindylow which he hit with a jet of bubbles without even trying to do any specific spell.

As soon as they surfaced Harry slowly opened his eyes. Cedric quickly glanced toward the docks to see that Krum was gone but Fleur was still there. He hadn't gone over time. He then turned to his boyfriend who was blinking in the sunlight.

"It's bright out here." Harry said, "Oh shoot, we aren't allowed to talk until we get to shore."

The two then swam towards shore. Harry seemed to be focused on keeping his head up, not getting to shore. Cedric ended up helping him actually move forward until they reached the judges dock. One of the judges cast a drying charm on them. As they walked over to Harry's dock Professor McGonagall rushed up behind them. 

"Mr. Potter!" she called, "The judges told me to give you both of these. They are to undo what you took earlier." 

"Harry quickly downed both vials, "Better not be accused of cheating." 

"Mr. Diggory you need to come with me now." 

"Okay Professor. Good luck Har, see you after?" 

Harry smiled and nodded. 

Cedric then followed his transfiguration teacher around and underneath the judges dock. "You, Mr. Diggory are to be Mr. Potter's hostage, I was told you were to take this, and hold your breath for two minutes."

Cedric downed the red potion and held his breath. He found that the potion took away his need to breathe. 

"Good, now this one will render you unconscious when you go underwater."

Cedric drank the blue one. "When do these wear off?" 

"They last twenty four hours but you can get the antidotes, the same ones I just gave Mr. Potter, after the task."

"Okay, so do I just jump in?" “Go as far under the structure as you can and then yes jump in. The potion will kick in after about a minute, longer than two minutes and we will bring you back up. The mermaids will take you from there."

Cedric nodded and climbed back into the structure of the raised part of the judges dock. Once he could go not further he closed his eyes and jumped letting the blackness the blue potion created overtake him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am a terrible liar! I thought I would do this chapter earlier this week but my mind was in a strange place and I had another project that needed attention. Stay healthy, and please leave comments and kudos!  
> Part two of the task will be out next week.  
> I also don’t know why that second note keeps appearing below each chapter, so just kinda ignore it or respond or whatever...........


	8. The Second Task Part 2

As Professor McGonagall led Cedric away from the dock Harry felt that nervous energy settle into him again. The swim back to the docks had been rough, especially after being nearly blinded by the mid morning sun. He was never a super strong swimmer and he could not let his head go underwater or risk being knocked out again. Luckily Cedric, playing a quite handsome prince charming, helped him out along the way. He spent the few minutes until Fleur dove in focusing on breathing. Apparently a side effect of the potion he took was needing a few minutes to get his body breathing involuntarily again. While he did this he looked out the lake. There were, above the surface and facing the stands and docks, what he could only describe as screens. They were following Krum who had transfigured himself into a shark of sorts. As Fleur dove in another appeared this one following her, she had gone with the same charm as Cedric. 

Harry began getting ready. He dropped the robes he had worn under the lake and put a waterproofing charm on his watch. The rule list by his dock told him he could set any waterproofing charms on things like glasses and watches before the timer started. He was also allowed to place a warming charm on himself which helped against the February air. The next fifteen minutes passed slowly Harry was starting to get concerned. Dobby hadn't shown up with his gillyweed. Just as he thought it Dobby appeared with a pop. 

"Dobby has your gillyweed!" He called from the bank just past the dock. 

Harry ran over and off the dock to grab the slimy plant from the elf. "Thank you so much Dobby, I really owe you." 

"It is not a problem Harry Potter sir, Dobby needs to be being back in the kitchens now." And Dobby was gone just as quickly as he appeared. Krum returned with minutes to spare and the bell sounded not long after. Harry swallowed the revolting plant. He waited a few seconds and dove in just as he started to feel the gills form. 

Harry swam deep through the murky green. The seaweed forest near his dock made it slow going. He had just gotten out of the forest when a grindylow grabbed his leg. Harry went to cast a spell to release the grindylow but his wand shot boiling bubbles of water at the beast. The grindylow released him but he now had a burn on his leg where he had accidentally gotten himself. _Spells don't work that way underwater, I have to be more careful,_ he thought. 

He swam on and luckily saw no sign of the giant squid. Not five minutes later Moaning Myrtle crossed Harry's path. Though she was unexpectedly helpful and pointed him to the mermaid village. The village reminded him of an underwater ruin made of shells. He checked his watch before heading in, just over thirty minutes left. He swam into what must have been the village square where there were three tall stone pillars a hostage tied to two of them. Gabrielle was still tied to the middle pillar and Fleur only had two minutes left. Cedric was tied to the pillar to the right. Harry dove down to the sand and found a sharp piece of shell and began cutting Cedric's bonds. Gabrielle was released and the mermaids were leading her up to the surface by this point. 

Harry remembered her fear from this morning. He decided to take action so she would not wake up to a strange merperson. He swam over pulling Cedric along and indicated to the merpeople carrying the little girl that he would carry her the rest of the way. He swam to the surface his webbed hands and feet helping him go as fast as he could while carrying two people. He had swung Cedric behind him almost piggyback style so he could still hold his wand. 

They were feet from the surface when a grindylow grabbed at his un-burned foot. A second one went for his arm holding Gabrielle. Without thinking about the burns he sent boiling water after both and raced to the surface. 

As he broke the surface he made sure not to let his gills out of the water so he could still breathe. Cedric's eyes bolted open and before Harry knew what was happening his boyfriend had claimed his lips in a kiss. As soon as the kiss broke he whispered "Ced you realize they got that on camera, right and also we aren't alone out here."

Gabrielle was treading water off to the side and blushing. And now the whole school knew about him and Cedric. They hadn't been pushing to keep them a secret but they hadn't been open about it either. Cedric turned as red as the painted wood of Harry's Gryffindor themed dock. 

It was now Harry's turn to assist the people who could not put their heads underwater only it was harder because he had to keep his neck under until the gillyweed wore off or he would suffocate. Luckily it wore off as he reached shore. Madam Pomfrey tended to his burns while Fleur thanked him profusely for rescuing her sister. Cedric and Gabrielle were administered antidotes for the potions they had taken.

Cedric came up to him a few moments later, "How valiant you were, saving both the little princess and your prince!" Cedric flopped into Harry's lap which was a bit awkward since Cedric was still taller than his boyfriend. "How honored I am to have been save by the boy-who-lived!"

"Shut up!" Harry hissed.

"You know, I didn't take the antidote to the red potion. I was thinking we go find a corner of the library to snog for a while..."

Harry smiled "After lunch."


	9. The Howler

The Monday after the task, like clockwork Rita Skeeter had a new article, and like always it made Harry want to hit something. 

**Harry Potter's Secret Lover**

**In the wake of the second task of the Triwizard Tournament a new romance is brewing for the Boy-Who-Lived. He and his competitor Cedric Diggory seem to be in a relationship of sorts. Cedric got the chance to be rescued from the lake by none other than Harry Potter and the two shared some sort of kiss as they surfaced.....**

Harry looked across the great hall towards Cedric. Cedric seemed to have read the article and was looking for Harry's reaction. Cedric was upset, yes, but unlike Harry he wasn't mad more relieved at not having this be a secret anymore. Harry smiled at him and crumpled the article, it seemed that Harry was opting to hold his head high on this one. 

Cedric left the great hall and headed to transfiguration, he had class with the Gryffindors and after class he was cornered by the Weasley twins.

"So you're the person Harry's been seeing?" The one on the right asked, six years of being in class with them and no matter how hard he tried Cedric still could not tell the two apart.

"Yes." Cedric said keeping calm.

"We noticed he has been happier lately, and we assume that is because of you." The twin on his left spoke, he was like 80% sure this was Fred.

"We also wanted to let you know that he is like our brother. You hurt him, you can expect one of our pranks to target you.” The one that was presumably George spoke.

"I understand completely. I also would never hurt him on purpose."

"Good, now we shall see you in charms later." Fred said cheerily, and then both twins turned and left.

Harry was not doing so hot that day. Snape had not responded to the article about him well, so potions had been new kind of hell, also he was pretty sure Snape knew he stole the gillyweed. He still hadn't had a chance to talk to Cedric that day and though he was pretty sure Cedric wasn't as angry as him he didn't quite know how Cedric felt. As Harry walked into lunch, he went over to the Hufflepuff table to say hi to his boyfriend.

"Ooh look it's Cedric's boyyfrriend!" Called out a small group of second years from down the table. They still had the effect of making both Harry and Cedric blush though.

Harry, used to unwanted attention, sat down next to Cedric and asked "Are you all good?"

"Yeah I think so. This isn't quite how I expected this to go, but I think it could have been worse." 

Just then an owl flew into the great hall. A hush fell over the hall, not only did owls rarely fly into the hall during lunch, this owl was carrying a bright red envelope. Someone had sent a howler.

Harry had a feeling that it was for him or Cedric, people would hate that the boy-who-lived was dating someone, especially those who did not think highly of same sex relationships. The owl landed squarely in front of Cedric. Harry glanced over at his now terrified boyfriend. Cedric had reached for the letter. He took a slow breath and opened it.

"HOW DARE YOU NOT TELL US ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP STATUS WITH THAT BOY! WE HAD TO FIND OUT FROM THE PROPHET LIKE EVERYONE ELSE! WE ARE YOUR PARENTS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" A female voice came out of the envelope.

Harry looked over at Cedric who seemed seemed on the verge of tears.

"WE WERE GOING TO LET YOU SPEND ONE MORE SUMMER AT HOME, BUT YOU ARE OF AGE AND CLEARLY MAKING YOUR OWN CHOICES SO AFTER TERM ENDS COME GET YOUR STUFF YOU ARE MOVING OUT!"

The howler then promptly burst into pieces. Cedric stared at the pieces that littered his lunch for a moment then stood up and ran out of the now silent hall. "Ced!" Harry called and got up to run after him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I finished the chapter! this is another one that I wanted to be longer but had to divide into two parts. I will hopefully post the rest of what was supposed to be in this chapter later this week. Stay safe, stay healthy, and please leave comments!


	10. Meet the (God)Parents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is some referenced abuse at the beginning of this chapter, so you have been warned if this is a trigger for you.  
> I realized that the beginning of this chapter is my first real attempt at something on the darker side of writing so bear with me.

Harry ran after Cedric to the Hufflepuff common room. Cedric had told him how to get in weeks ago. The Hufflepuffs have had the same knocking combination or centuries. They chose to give it out as needed to anyone that needed a safe place, or a place to snuggle on the couch with their significant other as it were, so long as the person caused no harm during their visit. Surprisingly all the students had respected this rule as long as the castle had stood. 

Harry entered to find Cedric on a bench near a 'window' that had similar charms to the great hall ceiling. He was curled up with his back to the entrance. Harry sat back to back with him and mimicked his position. "You wanna talk?"

Cedric was quiet for a moment and then laid his head back on Harry's shoulder to stare out the window. "It's not the gay thing, I mean they are tolerant...-ish and were coming around to it. I had a non serious boyfriend a few years ago. She just hates to not be the first one in my life to know something. That and she is borderline death eater material."

"Your mom?"

"She was in Slytherin and wants me to have this 'perfect pureblood life.' She was warming up to marrying me off to some pureblood guy and getting us a pureblood surrogate or something to _continue the line_ or some crap. My father, well, he doesn't like to stand up for himself all that much, but he was raised in pureblood tradition without the blood elitist ideals. He is was a Hufflepuff. They were debating letting me live with them this summer anyway. Family tradition states I move out and make it on my own, with my inheritance money of course," Harry could hear the eye roll Cedric gave "once I turned seventeen. My parents wanted me to be done with school though and I have another year left."

"Would you have moved back home?"

"Yes, my mother has ridiculous political beliefs and high expectations, but she's loving and caring most of the time just like any mother should be. She never hurt me or my dad. I've heard of kids who have it worse, parents that beat them or use harmful spells. I'm lucky I'm not one of those kids."

Harry was silent but after a moment he whispered, barely loud enough for anyone to hear, "I am."

"What?"

"I'm one of those kids." Cedric said nothing. "I lived in a cupboard under the stairs until I got my Hogwarts letter. They still make me do most of the housework and I live in what used to be my cousin's second smaller bedroom. My aunt and uncle hate me because I have magic, and nothing more. It's better now, though I think they are afraid of me now that I have training. I usually stay here on breaks and spend half the summers with the Weasleys anyhow."

Cedric sat up and turned around to hug his boyfriend. They stayed there until the last minute possible before class. 

After dinner that night Harry got a letter from Sirius. It told him to bring Ron and Hermione and tons of food that weekend on the Hogsmeade trip. It also said "If you really trust that boyfriend of yours I'd like to meet him."

That Saturday the trio went down to the kitchens soon after breakfast. After retrieving the food with an extra plate for Cedric, who had missed breakfast, Harry headed in to the Hufflepuff dorms to find his boyfriend. He found Cedric in the midst of a bunch of muggle newspapers with ads for London apartments circled. Harry would talk with him about those later. 

"Morning Ced!"

Cedric looked up "Oh shoot you said we were meeting your godfather today! Sorry I missed breakfast."

Harry leaned down to where Cedric was sitting for a kiss. "Go change into something for Hogsmeade and you can eat on the way."

"Okay be out in a minute, could you do me a favor and pile up the papers and slide them under the couch for me?"

Harry nodded. Cedric came down looking handsome as ever in just over two minutes. They exited the room and met Ron and Hermione in the hall and they started out to Hogsmeade.

"All that food better not just be for me." Cedric laughed.

"No this is yours." Hermione dutifully passed a bag with a to go breakfast in it to Cedric. "The rest is for Si- Harry's godfather."

They made the rest of the trip out to the edge of the wizarding town in silence. Cedric balked when he saw Padfoot waiting for them. 

"Not everything is as it seems sweetheart." Harry said taking Cedric's hand and guiding him to follow the dog up into the hills.

Once they had entered the cave the large black dog turned into a very thin looking Sirius Black. Harry's godfather quickly went to the food while Ron and Hermione went over to feed Buckbeak. It was only after Sirus had had a few bites of food that he introduced himself to a currently terrified Cedric Diggory. 

"You must be the boyfriend I heard about in the Prophet. Sirius Black, pleasure to meet you."

Cedric was frozen on the spot. "Don't worry Cedric he's innocent, but our only proof ran away to join Voldemort last year so he's still on the run."

Cedric relaxed a little. "Nice to meet you Mr. Black, I'm Cedric." He said shyly.

"Please, it's Sirius, Mr. Black would be my father and I don't want to be associated with the man that kicked out his sixteen year old son for not becoming a death eater."

Cedric nodded in understanding, but did not want to talk about his current living situation.

For the next hour or so they talked about the papers and Barty Crouch's absence from the tournament. Sirius told the teenagers about Barty's disposition in regards to the death eaters during and following the war. But, soon the students had to get back to school or their absence would be noted. They bid farewell to Sirus and Buckbeak and headed back up to the castle. On the way the trio told Cedric how they knew Sirius was innocent. Hermione also informed him he would have hell to pay if he told anyone about their helping Sirius, her time turner, or where Sirius was at the moment. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ten chapters wow! I can't believe I've made it this far. And this chapter was rather long, so thanks for hanging in there! Stay healthy, and leave comments and kudos!


	11. The Madness of Mr. Crouch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I stole the chapter title from JK Rowling

The four champions had made their way down to the quidditch field to meet Ludo Bagman. Neither Cedric nor Harry had been to the field all year and the two seekers were shocked to see the field covered in shrubs. Viktor did not look pleased at the ruined quidditch field either, Fleur was more indifferent. Cedric had figured out that she was probably not a quidditch fan, or if so, she did not play.

"What'd you do to our field?" Harry demanded.

"Don't worry" laughed Bagman "it will be restored to normal by the end of the year so that you can get back on your brooms next season."

Cedric squeezed Harry's hand. He wasn't sure about how he felt playing against Harry next year. The last time they had been in a match against each other Harry had ended up in the hospital wing. Not only that, but Cedric still felt bad about the fact that he hadn't noticed and won. He had spent hours that day trying to convince Hooch to allow a rematch, but no such luck. Harry squeezed his hand just then pulling Cedric from his thoughts. "You ready to go? I though we could walk the long way back to the castle."

"Yeah, but I think you'll need to explain to me what Bagman just said. My brain was off in another dimension."

"Of course. Essentially the little shrubs will grow tall and form a maze. The teachers are loading it with traps and creatures and such for us. The person who gets to the cup first will be portkeyed to the winners podium. A beam of light will appear above the others so the teachers can find them." 

The two wandered hand in hand around along the edge of the forest. They had stopped for a kiss by a tree when none other than a crazed looking Barty Crouch came up. He was muttering gibberish. Then for a moment the man seemed sane. "I need to.... speak.... Dumbledore." 

"I'll go get Dumbledore, Ced you stay here and keep an eye on him." 

Before he could respond Harry was dashing towards the castle. Cedric watched after him but just as he was about to turn to the now babbling Mr. Crouch he heard someone whisper _stupefy_ and the world went dark. 

Harry and an assortment of teachers arrived at the edge of the forest ten minutes later. Mr. Crouch was nowhere to be seen and Cedric was knocked out on the ground. Moody quickly revived Cedric and Harry was there to help him up in an instant. Harry heard Dumbledore assign orders to the staff that were present and soon he spoke to Cedric and Harry. "Head up to my office and I'll meet you there after I deal with this."

"Yes, Professor." Harry found himself saying. 

"Oh and Harry? I have been rather fond of cockroach clusters this year."

Harry nodded and led Cedric back to the school. 

"What was the candy thing about?"

"He likes to set the password to his office to be a different candy each year." 

"Oh." 

The two made their way to the gargoyle statue and Harry let them in. Once they were inside Dumbledore's office Harry noticed a stone bowl with runes on its sides filled with silvery liquid sitting on the desk. 

"What do you think that is?" Harry asked before going to get a closer look.

"I've heard of these. It's called a pensive. They're rare. You can store and view memories inside."

"Cool." Harry looked into the bowl and saw a courtroom take shape before he knew it he had fallen headfirst into the silvery depths and was sitting next to a memory Dumbledore on a bench. Moments later his boyfriend showed up beside him. 

"You can't just dive right into someone's memories Harry!"

"I didn't realize that I was doing that until I was already here! Now that we're here these don't look like terribly personal memories so let's stay and watch."

“I guess so, these are court cases so the public could find information anyway.”

The two watched what they quickly realized were the Death Eater trials from the war with Voldemort. They saw Bagman and Karkaroff first then came a trial of a group of wizards and a witch with a crazed look in her eyes and even crazier hair. They were being tried for torturing the Longbottoms, Neville's parents. Harry instantly decided that though he never got to see his parents, he was better off than Neville. Among the group was apparently Barty Crouch's son. Crouch Sr. was very cold and seemed to feel no remorse at sending his only child off to Azkaban for the rest of his life. 

Soon enough Dumbledore joined them in the pensive and the three left. 

"I'm sorry Professor we were just curious." Cedric explained.

"That is quite alright Mr. Diggory. I make sure to never leave anything I don't feel comfortable with others seeing. I do think that Mr. Longbottom would appreciate if you kept what you have seen to yourselves. He doesn't need everyone knowing the saddest parts of his life unless he wants to tell them."

"Yes Professor." Harry said. 

"Now I just wanted to make sure you both were okay and to ask what exactly did you see." 

The boys explained how crazy Crouch had seemed and that he had asked for the Professor when he seemed at his sanest. Cedric told Dumbledore that he had been stupefied before he could see who cast the spell. 

Dumbledore released the two once they had told their story and the boys headed to the library. They had a new task to focus on. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I'm gonna try my best to write out up to my goal point this week as I have an exam that will take up my time next week. My goal is to make it through the 3rd task! If the chapters get shorter it's because I'm working to get them done quicker and leaving out background detail.  
> Believe it or not we're close to the end of this part. I intend to take this through Deathly Hallows so we aren't really close to the completion of this project. If you noticed I reduced the number of chapters. This is the set number for the rest of GoF though if I have to split the 3rd task like I did the 2nd one we will end on 15 chapters. I will go back and check for continuity and maybe make some other edits once I finish this part.  
> Side note, after I move on from GoF with this project I might start working on a HP Next Generation story (starring a OFC!) at the same time so updates might subside as I work on that!  
> Thanks for reading!


	12. The Day Of

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to divide this task but by time instead of perspective. This chapter will take us about halfway through and the next will finish off the tournament. 
> 
> Also this chapter is not finished but I am posting it and will edit later. I think part of my brain doesn't want it to end so it is stopping me from writing LOL!!
> 
> EDIT: I have put this as its own chapter and will do the third task as one part! This chapter is finished for now, I think I will get one more chapter in before my exam next week.

A few weeks later Cedric and Harry were working in an empty classroom with their friends. 

"What's next on the list?" Cho asked Hermione. Hermione had come up with a list of spells he and Harry needed to master by June, they had just finished perfecting _stupefy_.

"I was thinking, it might be helpful for Cedric to at least start learning the Patronus Charm."

Eve who was always eager to be a test subject for a spell popped up from the desk she was sitting on and asked "Can I help?"

"It's not really something you help with. Unless you can get us a dementor." Harry replied, "But, if you want I guess I could teach all of you." He added begrudgingly. 

"How likely is it that we will face one?" Cedric asked.

"Not very, you haven't learned the charm and I don't think Viktor has either. I asked him about his experience with defense and he said nothing about dementors." Hermione said, Ron scowled at her. "I doubt Fleur knows it either. Harry only learned it after he had a bad reaction last year and got hurt."

"Wait are we just going to go with the fact that Harry learned a charm that most seventh years get wrong on NEWTs." Mark interjected interrupting Hermione's rambling.

"Yes, yes we are." Harry replied, "Now if you want to learn stay if not you can leave, we don't need distractions." 

Everyone stayed. First Harry talked them through the Charm then demonstrated it. By the end of the afternoon Cedric, Hermione, and Cho were able to produce a silver mist. They worked like that for weeks alternating between patronuses and other spells Harry and Cedric would need. Before they knew it it was the day before the task. 

The air of nervousness and excitement built up the days before the task. Finals were going on in most places in the school so Cedric and Harry had taken to practicing in the Hufflepuff common room or in Cedric's dorm. The day before the task Harry's friends had their astronomy final, so unlike other nights when he would spend his evenings with Ron and Hermione Harry went with Cedric after dinner. They stayed up late taking and belatedly realized that Harry was out after curfew without his invisibility cloak. 

"Stay here for the night." Cedric said. "It wouldn't help your nerves to get caught by Filch. You can head back to Gryffindor in the morning to get ready."

"I-- er - sure, why not. Ron and Hermione will be too exhausted to truly notice."

Later that night Harry and Cedric lay side by side squished in the twin bed. Harry nudged his boyfriend. "Ced you awake?"

"Yup, can't sleep. Who do you think is gonna win tomorrow?"

"Well I think my boyfriend has a good shot."

"Ah, yes but I've heard my boyfriend has handled much more than this in the past. He fought off a whole team of dementors last year."

"I think I've heard of him." Harry paused, "It's weird this is the first task I actually want to try to win. The dragons were about survival, the lake was about you and not drowning, this one I want to win."

"Well I'm not gonna make it easy on you if that's what you're asking. I entered to win."

Harry laughed "I--" he stopped himself. He wanted to say those three words but that would wait until tomorrow, there would be some sort of party after the task, he would tell him then. "I never expected otherwise." 

Harry was up and out of Cedric's room at dawn. He ran to Gryffindor tower showered and changed his clothes. He then went to the common room and ran through the spells he would need. By then Hermione, the early riser that she is, despite her late night final, was coming down the stairs. "Morning Harry"

He smiled looked over the list one more and then asked "Breakfast?"

The two went to the hall for a leisurely breakfast. Soon enough the hall filled up and then many students Hermione and Ron included went off for their last exams. Up at the front table Dumbledore made an announcement. "Champions, we have a special surprise for you if you would follow me. You can continue your breakfast once you return." 

The four champions stood and followed Dumbledore to the chamber behind the hall, the same one where they were escorted after their names came out of the goblet. The first thing Harry noticed was that Fleur's sister and people he assumed were her parents were standing right by the entrance. A family with a son and a daughter were there for Viktor and beyond that were Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Bill. Harry smiled and Molly took him into a tight hug. Once he was released he looked over to see Cedric talking to his father. The conversation looked more strained than it had been at the world cup but it seemed to be going well. After breakfast the boys spent the day together with their families, the Weasleys acted as a nice buffer for Cedric and his Dad when conversation got strained. The boys didn't need anything else to worry about. They had a a maze to navigate that night.


	13. The Third Task

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter of the week! I made it to my goal! Hope you like it! Also I am not writing Fluer's speaking with her accent so.... yeah.
> 
> This will mostly be Cedric's perspective since I imagine most of Harry's adventure to be similar to canon. Also just because Harry did not think there were any of whatever creature in the maze in canon does not mean that others are not encountering them.

After dinner everyone made their way out of the great hall and down to the quidditch field. Only four people stayed behind. Fleur had requested the other champions meet with her before the task. 

"I just wanted to say that no matter what happens tonight I want to stay in contact with all of you. We went through this together, it's a rather unique experience no?" She said when Viktor asked her why they were there.

"I'd love to have more people to write to over the summer." Harry said, "It'd be fun to watch my Aunt and Uncle get freaked out because of all the owls I'd get." 

"I'd love to keep in touch! I'll send out a letter once I've officially moved into an apartment." Cedric said. He had been looking for months and, with the help of his muggle studies teacher, had found an apartment in muggle London as someone's flatmate. This person, Lawrence Malcolm, a nineteen year old art student, still wanted to interview him, so he planned to leave the next day for lunch. 

Viktor nodded in agreement and it was settled, the four would stay in touch over the summer. They then walked together to the final task.

The bushes had sprouted up about twenty feet into the air. Cedric noticed the viewers above that would show them in the maze. He still wasn't sure how he had missed them during the second task, but what was done was done. They arrived and Bagman announced their scores, he and Harry were tied for first, Viktor second, and Fluer was in third. They each lined up at an entrance for the maze when the bell sounded, it was go time. 

Cedric took one last glance at Harry and then headed into the maze. He alternated turning right and left. It seemed like a good strategy. The first thing he encountered seemed to be a moat full to the brim with grindylows. This wasn't an ordinary moat though, it stretched up like a fish tank so his only way past was through. He cast an underwater stunning spell at the grindylows, took a breath and dove through. He tumbled out the other side earning him some scratches and dirtying his wet robes. He went along for a bit without incident. He had to calm a group of angry mother hippogriffs and stun some skrewts but it wasn't bad. 

A chill surrounded him about twenty minutes in. He knew this one without even seeing them. They had been at school all year last year. He rallied up his happiest thoughts, kissing Harry for the first time, winning a quidditch match, being sorted into his father's house first year, and having fun learning the charm he was preparing to preform with his friends. He opened his eyes and looked around. There it was, just around the corner. He cast _Expecto Patromun!_

He hadn't expected much more than a bit of mist or a sort of shield to appear, but a large dolphin burst our of his wand and charged down the dementor. He would ponder what that meant later, but now he needed to get moving, he had a tournament to win after all. 

Not five minutes later he encountered Viktor. The Bulgarian seeker had a glazed over expression and started casting curses towards Cedric. The Hufflepuff put up a shield and started to back away. He wasn't about to curse a fellow competitor. A person out of his view shot off a stunner towards Viktor. He collapsed. Harry came around the corner.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, he didn't hit me. I think he was under imperius though. " Cedric sent up some red sparks to call the teachers "We should get out of here." 

"You don't think that someone got to Fleur do you?" 

The two headed around a corner to see an unconscious Fleur wrapped in vines. It looked like she had gotten attacked by a cursed section of the hedge. Harry sent up the sparks this time. 

"That answers that." Harry said. "I'd wish you good luck but it's just us now and I wanna win."

"Me too." Cedric pulled him in for a quick kiss. "And I meant what I said last night, I'm not going easy on you." He turned and ran off. 

Harry turned and went a different way. 

It was less than a half hour later when the boys were working to fight off an acromantula together. Harry leg was injured and he was unable to walk the last ten feet to the cup. Cedric let Harry lean on him as they approached the cup. "Together then?" 

"As it should be." Harry replied, his face half smile half wince from pain.

"On three," The two grabbed hands and stepped closer to one another. "One, two..." 

On three just before their hands reached the cup their lips met. The kiss broke as they were whirled away. 

When they landed the first thing that was obvious was that this was not the winners podium. They were in an old graveyard somewhere. Still holding hands, the boys pulled their wands out. They had made it ten steps from the cup when a high shrill voice said "Kill the spare."

Harry's eyes widened in horror. Another voice cut through the night, this one mildly squeaky, _"Avada Kedavra!"_

"No!" Harry cried and still holding his boyfriend's hand whirled around to face him. A jet of green light hit Harry in the back. Cedric felt Harry's hand go limp as his boyfriend collapsed to the ground with a thud. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mwahahahaha!
> 
> See you in a week after my exam!!!
> 
> Don’t forget to leave comments and kudos I wanna hear what you think!


	14. You-Know-Who

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray! I'm done with exams! I will add the note that made up the old ch14 under here so if you have read it feel free to skip. I only have one chapter left and then we will move on to Orders of the Half-Blood Prince (Nice title right?). There will also be a small interlude thing before that so please read that when it comes it will be important!  
> Okay now that you are probably thinking "Appie quit stalling and let us read!" I will finally alllow you to know what happens next!  
> Here's the aforementioned note:
> 
> Hi everyone!
> 
> It's taking much more discipline than I thought not to work on this story and focus on studying! So I thought that I would write a bit about this story as a way to relieve stress. I also wrote this so future people would have a bit of a wait between chapters even after I finish the work. No, I am not talking about the cliffhanger that must not be named during this. (Though all the clues to have figured it out early on were in the tags and summary.) As I mentioned waaaaaay back in chapter one this is my first published fic and I am thrilled to see readership and kudos and comments! You all are really the best readers I could ask for. I'd like to thank Tay_Quin for listening to my plot ideas and all my other ramblings. She's not really my beta reader but more my, "is this plot stupid?" friend. I don't know if I could have made it through quarantine without you! (Go read her work!) 
> 
> About this work, I will be taking it through Deathly Hallows, but I will be combining OoTP and HBP into one year. That being said there will be plot points I skip in those books because it would be otherwise impractical. Also if and when Ced is placed to make a decision he is not just going to follow canon because he is his own person! And Hufflepuffs make decisions differently than Gryffindors. 
> 
> For reference Harry's scar in this story is supposed to look like actual lightning not the little zigzag thing. 
> 
> A bit about me for future reference:
> 
> I am a Slytherin, obviously only a Slytherin could leave a cliffhanger like that!
> 
> I use she/her pronouns, I know it's hard to tell someone's gender from the internet. 
> 
> I recently gave into the quarantine crazy and chopped my hair. (It looks really cute just thought yall should know.)
> 
> I don't make edits before posting chapters, I do so when I finish the work.
> 
> Thanks for reading! See you after exams!
> 
> XOXO
> 
> \--Appie

Before Cedric could comprehend what had happened the first voice yelled "Nooooo! He was mine you imbecile! Now we'll have to make do with this one."

"I apologize my lord." The squeaky voice said, the one who- before he could finish the thought a rat like man was grabbing him and tying him to one of the headstones. 

Cedric could see a cauldron in the dark, it was set up to brew something. Cedric wondered where his wand was, he had to get away. He briefly considered apparating, but then he'd have to walk the rest of the way to the quidditch stadium. No, the cup was his only way out. The man that had tied him up took out a dagger and held Cedric's arm out. Cedric realized what was happening too late. The man cut his arm with the dagger and collected the blood from the cut. He winced from the pain. 

As the pain subsided, he would later discover that the rat man had healed him, Cedric saw the rat man performing a ritual. He took bones from a nearby grave, one that read the name Tom Riddle, added the blood he had taken from Cedric and then cut off his own hand, all of this went into the cauldron. Then he picked up a bundle that Cedric had not noticed. Rat man dropped the bundle into the cauldron and started chanting. Cedric closed his eyes when the potion emitted a red light. 

Moments later he head the high pitched voice say the words "Robe me." Cedric opened his eyes a few seconds later. Pure terror washed over him. The white skin red eyes and snakey face could only be one person. He should have figured it out sooner. But there in the flesh was you-know-who. 

You-know-who called to his servant "Wormtail, call the others, see who is loyal and who shall die." So that was the guy who betrayed Harry's family, and now Harry he thought. You-know-who pressed his finger to the dark mark on Wormtail's arm. Not thirty seconds later did a ring of Death Eaters appear, each of them kissing their lord's feet and returning to the circle. He yelled and berated his followers for some time. He also gave Wormtail a replacement hand. Cedric wasn't paying much attention to what was said or who was there, he did hear some familiar names though. The bindings tying him to the headstone unwound themselves and a giant snake, how had he failed to notice, blocked off the exit forcing him into the center of the circle. Wormtail passed him a wand, his wand. 

"So who exactly are you? And why would Harry Potter give his precious life for you?" You-know who asked.

"Ce-Cedric Di-di-diggory and I'm not sure." He avoided the evil man's gaze. 

"Diggory, pureblood then."

Cedric forced himself to nod.

"It will be a shame killing you then. But I'm giving you a chance, we will do a proper duel. I assume you know how."

Ced nodded again and forced himself into a dueling position. He had no idea how to get out of there. He bowed and let the evil one go first.

"Avada Kedavra!" Cedric should have expected that. 

He stared as the green jet of light came closer aimed for where his neck met his left shoulder. It came closer, and hit its mark. The spell then suddenly lashed back, knocking away you-know-who's wand and hitting a tree. It also hit a few Death Eaters. Cedric ran through the new hole in the circle. He reached for the cup, automatically grabbing Harry in his other arm. He wooshed away from the graveyard. 

He landed on the winners podium, where everyone could see. The crowd fell silent, then he heard a single female voice from the crowd, presumably Molly Weasley or Hermione, scream "No!" It was sharp and short and nearly all the teachers were rushing over. Cedric forced himself to look down at Harry. His boyfriend's green eyes stared off into nothingness, still holding his wand in the hand that hadn't been holding Cedric's. Tears burned in Cedric's throat. He became aware of the pain where the curse had hit him. The killing curse. How had he survived when Harry didn't? 

A pair of arms were pulling him away guiding him back to the castle. He didn't have the energy to protest. Somehow he ended up in Mad-Eye Moody's office. 

"Ya'know it's not every day that someone escapes a kidnapping by the Dark Lord." The teacher started, "Unless you're Harry Potter, but I guess even he can run out of luck."

"How do you know that?"

"The Dark Lord informed me himself. I am after all, his faithful servant." 

"No, you're not you're one of the good guys."

"Am I?" The man before him slowly started to morph into someone who looked vaguely familiar. 

"Barty Crouch Jr." Cedric whispered, he then started to hear voices outside the door.

"The Dark Lord told me to kill you. But I want to have some fun first. _Crucio!"_

White hot pain seared through Cedric. Then it stopped suddenly. The teachers from outside had finally broken through the door. Dumbledore interrogated Barty who was now lying tied up on the floor. Professor Sprout led Cedric to the hospital wing. He reached a cot and flopped over onto it, exhausted.


	15. What Next?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so not the last chapter! But y'all know I'm a poor planner.  
> I got roped into babysitting and wasn't able to write everything I wanted in this chapter.  
> Next one's the last one I promise!  
> Also 2 chapters in 48hrs go me!

_Where am I?_ Was Cedric's first thought the next day. He looked around. He was in the hospital wing, he slowly started to remember why. The task, the graveyard, Barty Crouch Jr. Harry. He was gone. Cedric took a deep breath. It was too early in the day to cry. 

Madame Pomfrey came in. "Good morning Mr. Diggory, how are you feeling?"

"Physically fine, emotionally, like I was run over by the Hogwarts Express."

"Well you seemed to escape many after effects of the Cruciatus Curse and I don't think that killing curse did much other than that nasty scar on your shoulder. Granted I am not sure what to look for, I didn't get to see Harry back when he...." She trailed off. "Well you also had an encounter with a dementor last night. The elves have sent up breakfast, and I have included a dose of chocolate and a pepperup with that. After that you should be good to go."

Cedric nodded. She put a tray on his lap. He wasn't all that hungry, but he ate it anyway. He couldn't take the pepperup on an empty stomach. Just as he was finishing Professor Dumbledore came in. He sat down silently.

"Professor, why didn't I die?"

Dumbledore remained quiet for a moment, then said, "He loved you. That's how he survived the first time. His mother loved him and chose to sacrifice herself. He did too."

"If he was protected why did he..."

"He was protected from Voldemort's touch and spells, but not Peter's. I have a feeling though that since Peter did it on Voldemort's orders and with his wand that you are protected from both."

"They took my blood. To bring You-know-who back."

"Yes they did."

"Do people know he's back?"

"The Ministry is in denial right now. We just have to stay steadfast in saying that Voldemort is back."

Cedric nodded. Then he remembered he had something to do at noon. "What time is it?" 

"Eleven o'clock by my watch. May I ask why?"

"I have a meeting to go to. An interview to be a roommate. I can't cancel now. He's a muggle and the mail would take too long. I have to go."

"Before you leave Cedric, we are doing a will reading this afternoon. Come to the great hall when you return."

"Yes, Professor."

Cedric walked back to his dorms and got ready in a haze. The only thing he consciously did was pick out his black muggle jeans and a black button down. They were meant to be worn in different outfits, but that was the only color he felt like wearing. He trudged down the path to town. He willed his mind into focus. Focusing on the point he and his muggle studies teacher had chosen for him to apparate to. She had helped him set this meeting up. He landed in the alleyway and stowed his wand. He walked to the outdoor cafe where they were supposed to meet. He saw the face in the photo he was sent looking back at him from a table. 

"Cedric right?" The blonde haired, blue eyed man said.

"Yup. Lawrence Malcolm I assume?" Cedric did his best to put on the emotionless mask his mother had tried to enforce in him.

"Yep, but everyone calls me Lars."

Cedric sat down. 

"So, Cedric, I've got to say I think you are the best candidate I have had. The extra money I got from my father is running low and I still need to pay for art school. Why should I pick you?"

"Well I am not a super messy roommate, but I don't mind mess. I am going to a boarding school but I can afford to pay rent during the school year, so long as I can return on my breaks. Like I said I go to a boarding school and I am used to living with other people. And you're my only option. My parents kicked me out. I'm of age but I still have a year of school left. "

"Okay, how often would you be having friends or girlfriends over?"

"Friends? Probably not often." He wasn't about to invite a bunch of wizards and witches into the muggle world on a regular basis. "Girlfriends? If you must know it would be a boyfriend and I don't think there will be any this summer." The mask slipped, he was never good at it anyway.

"Oh come on! What do you not think you're attractive?"

"No I'm just not in the place for a relationship." Tears burned in his throat. "I'm sorry, someone important to me just passed away."

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize. Now I'm gonna be honest with you. You were the only person that was not super sketchy that responded to my ad in the paper. I trust you, I have a bit of a superpower when it comes to seeing if someone is trustworthy. I can tell you are hiding something, but not something that is harmful. I have a contract here for you to read over and sign. I just need to know when you can move in."

Cedric took a few deep breaths and wiped his face on his sleeve, "Next week. I'll be coming through King's Cross if you want to meet me there and help with my stuff."

"Okay just sign here." Lars pulled out a sheet of paper and passed Cedric a pen. "I know loss sucks. If you need someone, I'm here."

"Thanks, I will see you in a week, I wish I could stay a bit more but I have someplace to go."

"See you soon Ced."

Cedric took a deep breath, one less thing to worry about. He walked back to the alley and apparated back to Hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whatddya think of Lars? Also you may have noticed that there is a second part called Beyond now, go read it! I needed to write it to understand what to do for ch16 and it will help lay out the rest of the series. Also if you feel so inclined, follow me on Tumblr! Same URL


	16. The End of an Era

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter!  
> WARNING: It's a bit of a sad one, I hope I did Harry justice.

Cedric walked back up to the castle at a quick pace. He was trying his best not to think about what awaited him in the great hall. He turned his thoughts away from the sense of gloom that coated the grounds and refused to even look out at the quidditch field. At last he arrived in the great hall. A small gathering of people were there, the entire Weasley family, Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore, a House-Elf that looked vaugely familiar, Professor Lupin, a giant black dog that Cedric now knew to be Sirius Black, Hermione Granger, and a goblin. 

Sirius came over and nudged Cedric's leg, Cedric patted his head comfortingly. The goblin then spoke "Good afternoon, you are all here for the reading of the will of Harry James Potter. My name is Roseked and I was put in charge of the Potter estate."

Roseked opened her mouth to continue, but Hermione piped up "How could he have a will, he was fourteen?"

Ron answered "Wizards don't make their wills in advance, magic creates them on the moment of his or her death. That way it is catered to their true last wishes. No one they wouldn't want to inherit anything has a chance to."

Hermione nodded. Roseked continued "He has left the funeral arrangements to Gringotts, they are to be approved by me and then Minerva McGonagall or Albus Dumbledore. The assets within his vault are to be split into three, one third to set up a Hogwarts scholarship fund as a way to let students who have an unstable home stay at Hogwarts over all breaks, summer included. One third will go to the Weasley family as a thank you for giving him a home each summer. The other third will go to Cedric Diggory, as a back up fund if he needs it."

Cedric looked over at the Weasleys, Molly and Ron were crying. Cedric had done a good job trying to keep his tears in, but hearing that Harry left him something made it final. 

"To Hermone Granger, he leaves his owl Hedwig, he writes 'I always felt bad you had to use school owls,' and any books of his she wishes. The rest of the books are to go to Hogwarts. To Ron Weasley, he leaves his firebolt stating, 'There will be two spots on the team next year, you should have a good shot at one of them.' To Fred and George Weasley, he leaves whatever winnings he had from the triwizard tournament and whatever money was not in his vault, 'For the joke shop' he says. To Remus Lupin and Padfoot," Roseked paused a quizzical look on her face "the marauders map and invisibility cloak, 'to hopefully help a new generation of mischief makers.' To Dobby, he leaves all his socks and whatever other clothes Dobby would like. The other clothes are to be donated to a muggle charity. To Cedric Diggory, he leaves the golden egg from the second task and his model of a Hungarian Horntail saying 'I know you have one already, but I couldn't think of what else to give you. I helped you with the dragons, you helped me with the egg.'"

Cedric smiled at the memory of the encounter that had brought them together. He remembered that neither of them could stop blushing as they hid under the cloak that night. 

"He leaves the seven snitches from his winning quidditch matches to Hermione Granger, he wants to ensure she gets the very first one for lighting Snape on fire, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Minerva McGonagall, Dobby, ensure he gets the one from the rouge bludger game, Remus Lupin, ensure he gets the one from his third year match vs Ravenclaw, Padfoot, ensure he gets the one from his second game played on the firebolt. He wants to let Cedric know and I quote 'I didn't forget you, but you have one from the match I lost.' He wishes you all love and happiness in the future, and with that said I will distribute the keys to the vaults containing your new assets and I will take my leave. Miss Granger, Hedwig will of course be in the owlrey, but her cage will be in your vault." 

The goblin distributed the keys, when she got to Lupin she passed him two "I trust you can get this to Padfoot." 

Lupin simply nodded and Sirius left Cedric's side to go sniff at his key. The goblin then left the great hall to return to Gringotts. 

Cedric was crying, he wasn't quite sure when he started. Molly came over and pulled him into a tight hug. Hermione followed, then Ron. Before he knew it Cedric was surrounded by all the people there, in a group hug of grief.

The day of the funeral arrived. Harry had not wanted it to be a large affair, only people he knew and liked there. It turned out to mostly just be the people from the will reading, his dorm mates and their families, his quidditch team including their ex keeper Oliver, and Cedric's friends. Harry had wanted to be burried in Godirc's Hollow alongside his parents despite never having been to the site. Cedric was to give the eulogy. 

"Harry Potter was known for many things, he was the Boy-who-lived, savoir of the wizarding world, youngest quidditch player in a century, defeater of you-know-who, 1st place tie in the triwizard tournament among other things. Those titles meant nothing to him, otherwise the rest of the wizarding world would be here. No, the titles that mattered to him were things like, friend, helper, occasional mischief maker, godson, adopted son, seeker, student," Cedric paused as his breath caught in his throat, "boyfriend. Those who weren't invited wouldn't know that he was sarcastic and sassy, that he was amazed at what each and ever spell could do. That he wouldn't rush into danger for the excitement and glory, but to save his school, his best friend's sister, his friends, or his godfather. They wouldn't know how bad he was at potions and was an average student, no matter how hard he tried. They would assume he entered the tournament on purpose. They would assume he died in the maze fighting off some crazy monstrous beast. Those people aren't here because they don't see how big his heart was. Big enough to free a house elf from a cruel master, or to cast a patronus that memorialized his father. Big enough to sacrifice himself for the boy he fell in love with. While yes Harry Potter is a name that will live on for his famed feats that is not how he should be remembered. He would want to be remembered for his love not his name."

The rest of the ceremony blurred by. Cedric, Cho, Mark, Eve, Hermione, and Ron walked into the town of Godric's Hollow afterwords. They passed a statue that the wizards had erected to honor the potters in the center of town, the muggles only saw a fountain. Cedric walked up to the statue of baby Harry and his parents, and left a kiss on the baby Harry's forehead. They then visited the cottage. Over the years many people had written thank yous and well wishes in everlasting ink on the fence in front of the destroyed building. Cedric hopped the fence and on the blank side facing the house he carved with his wand, _Thanks for everything Harry, All my love, Ced._ He then filled the gap with gold everlasting ink. The group of friends then portkeyed away from the town.

The last day at Hogwarts had arrived, the visiting schools had returned home, the leaving feast that was held under black banners was over. Cedric boarded the Hogwarts express and found a compartment. His friends and the Weasley twins joined him. Cedric looked towards the twins "You can have my winnings too. Harry was the one that talked me into tying with him. He should have gotten all the money, not just half."

"Thanks," George said. 

The rest of the train ride was mostly silent in their compartment. When they arrived in London Cedric walked with Professor McGonagall who had come to inform the Dursleys of their nephew's passing. When she told them Cedric was surprised at their reactions, he knew that they hated Harry but he was still family. Harry's uncle looked gleeful, his aunt indifferent. The only one that seemed appropriate was Harry's cousin's it was an expression of shock. Once the muggles had turned to leave, Mr. Dursley complaining about how they had had to drive all the way out to London just to be told their nephew was dead and that they did not need to make the trip. 

Cedric finally arrived at the front of the station and met Lars. He took a moment to breathe before following his roommate to the tube. Hopefully this summer would be a good one. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're done! I'm gonna take a few days to plan the next installment, if you haven't yet go read Beyond as it sets up a subplot that will continue until the end of the series.  
> Please leave comments and kudos I'd like to know what you think. Follow me on Tumblr by the same URL if you feel so inclined. (If you do message me to tell me that you are one of my readers!)
> 
> XOXO  
> \--Appie
> 
> EDIT:  
> PS: Orders is up and ready go check it out!!


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